Maria, first of all, you and a couple of other ppl on this board have been extremely tolerant and very helpfull and I would like to thank you for it! This is what helps: rational discussions!
Yes, my symptoms have worsened during stressfull periods. Its a whole batch of symptoms, the most uncomfortable one being the abdominal pain. But I also get twitches, some nausea, the back pain and some serious insomnia. I am not sure its IBS because of these additional symptoms such as muscle twitches, insomnia and back pain. These are not characteristic of IBS, or at least according to what I have read about IBS. Also, I dont fit the Rome 2 criteria. I dont for example have intermittent or colicky lower abdominal pain and I DONT feel relief after I have a bowel movement, which seems to be one of the key characteristics that define IBS. I have loose watery stools, yes. And that has been the case for a year and a half. But I also have this upper right pain right under the rib cage that is more or less constant. Its true, sometimes I feel it less, but its always been there this last year and a half. I did some test such as HCV, LFTs, Alpha1, iron etc to rule out liver and gall bladder diseases. I dont have an enlarged liver which is characteristc of liver diseases. But I do have a liver that seems to be hardened and could apparently indicate liver disease.
More recently I had a protein c reactive test that is a good indicator of IBD. Again, it was negative.
The only anomaly that has been detected is the ALT liver enzyme which is consistantly slightly elevated. Its been suggested that I might have fatty liver, but, unfortunately, the only way to be sure is to take a biopsy sample of my liver and I am certainly NOT going to let that happen. So I am in a peculiar situation over here. Take the muscle twitches! They appeared around same time as the rest of the symptoms, but they are certainly not characteristic of IBS! Neither is the insomnia!!! And mind you, I dont wake up because of a digestive disorder. I wake up out of the blue, almost randomly. And then I cannot go back to sleep!!!
Its true, I have not had a colonoscopy, and many here say its the definitive diagnosis, or at least one that will rule out organic problems. But I did have two sigmoidoscopies for piles in 2003 which is like half a colonoscopy. Oh and the MRI I had was really comprehensive, covering my whole abdomen. The doctors where just amazed by the slides because of the level of detail. I was fortunate enough to have the most recent generation MRI done on me!
Now tell me, do I really need more tests or should I just let it go. I know that in the end only I can take that decision, but opinions are important to me and because you amongst others seem to think rationally, your opinion has some weight!
Anyways, thanks for spending the time listening me!
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Re: is your pain continuous?
